The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary
The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary was a celebration of the first twenty-five years since the release of The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System. To celebrate, Nintendo organized events, and released special video game editions and merchandise. Several fansites also engaged in these celebrations with activities of their own. Video games 2011, the year of celebration, saw two Legend of Zelda titles officially acknowledging the 25th anniversary. A port of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords for the Nintendo 3DS, available free of charge for a limited time, opens with a depicting of the anniversary logo. This port also includes the Realm of Memories, an all-new location with stages utilizing graphics and elements from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past as well as The Legend of Zelda. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the sixteenth installment of the series, released on the Wii in 2011, bears the anniversary logo on its box. It even contains a veiled reference to the anniversary within the game itself; when Owlan is informing the participants of the Wing Ceremony about its history, he refers to it as being the 25th anniversary since the Knight Academy was founded. A special limited edition version of the game was also released, containing a Zelda-themed Wii Remote as well as the The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD, a selection of orchestral arrangements of musical scores from throughout the series. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, an enhanced remake of the Nintendo 64 game released for the Nintendo 3DS, saw a re-release late in in 2011, as a 25th Anniversary Bundle with a special, limited edition Nintendo 3DS bearing symbols of the series such as the Triforce, the Ocarina of Time, and the Goddess's Harp. Merchandise On December 21, 2011, Hyrule Historia, an in-depth encyclopedia on the Legend of Zelda, was released in Japan. Spanning 247 pages, Hyrule Historia contains creators' notes, concept artwork, and previously unknown information such as the complete timeline of the games in the series up to Skyward Sword. Additionally, the Hyrule Historia features a manga prequel to Skyward Sword. Limited edition cards for virtual currency for game systems, utilizing artwork from Zelda games and bearing the anniversary logo — with two separate designs for Wii/DSi Nintendo Points Cards (Skyward Sword) and 3DS Prepaid Cards (Ocarina of Time) — were released in 2011. Web content An official Nintendo-hosted site currently features a five-minute retrospective on the entire series up to Skyward Sword. A contest was also held for the Nintendo DSi's Flipnote application, allowing users to create and publish their Zelda-related short subject animations. Selected submissions were published in three official videos (containing submissions from Europe, North America and Japan, respectively) available on the Wii and 3DS's Nintendo Channel with comments by Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma. Gallery File:25th Anniversary Nintendo Points Card.png|Limited Edition Nintendo Points Card File:25th Anniversary 3DS Prepaid Card.png|Limited Edition 3DS Prepaid Card 25th Anniversary Poster 1.jpg|Artwork of various characters from throughout the series Links Artwork.png|Artwork of Link's numerous incarnations Category:Zelda Culture